Author: admin

  • Pregnancy evolution, AI chemistry, quicker gene tests

    Pregnancy evolution, AI chemistry, quicker gene tests

    This month’s “Insights & Outcomes” digs deep into research about fundamental processes that affect all our lives. We delve into the evolution of pregnancy, new uses for artificial intelligence in chemistry and carbon capture, and a novel device capable of detecting a rare genetic mutation in minutes. 

    As always, you can find more science and medicine research news on Yale News’ Science & Technology and Health & Medicine pages.

    New device brings benefits of ‘rapid’ genetic tests to clinical setting

    Despite advances in genetic testing over the past two decades, use of the technology in clinical settings has been hampered by the notoriously long wait for test results. In most cases, laboratory results aren’t available for days or weeks, by which time the opportunity for improved patient care may have already been missed.

    A team of researchers from Yale and Rutgers, however, recently created a portable device capable of detecting a rare genetic mutation in as little as 10 minutes. The advance, which was described in the journal Communications Engineering, holds promise for use in emergency rooms and outpatient settings where test results can help inform patient care — including in cases where doctors may otherwise lose touch with patients after discharge, said Curt Scharfe, a geneticist at YSM and co-author of the study.

    Scharfe led the project alongside Mehdi Javanmard, a professor of electrical engineering at the Rutgers School of Engineering.

    The device combines a technique called allele-specific polymerase chain reaction, also known as ASPCR, with electrical impedance, which measures how DNA samples affect the flow of electricity in microfluidic chips. These tiny chips handle small liquid volumes and measure electrical signals to distinguish DNA sequences that carry a disease-causing mutation from those that do not.

    In this case, the device was validated for testing hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (TTR), a genetic condition that can lead to heart failure, particularly in people of West African ancestry. The condition has been the focus of multiple Yale research programs.

    Importantly for an emergency department setting, the device enables providers to receive results while the patient is still on the premises, Scharfe said.

    “It enables near-patient testing just like a glucometer enables near-patient testing for diabetes management,” he said. “Our combined technologies — the assay and the device together — enables us to do the same thing for this mutation with specificity and sensitivity, and affordably.”

    Tracing the evolution of pregnancy

    Yale research is shedding new light on the evolution in fetal and maternal cells that helped make mammalian pregnancy sustainable. 

    Successful pregnancies depend, in part, on the molecular communication between fetus and mother where the placenta attaches to the uterus. In a new study, published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, researchers zeroed in on this critical connection.

    Specifically, they traced the evolutionary history of gene activity in placental cells from six animals that represent all the branches of the mammalian family tree. These included humans, mice, guinea pigs, macaques, and two lesser-studied species: the short-tailed opossum, a marsupial, and the tenrec, a relative of elephants.

    By illustrating how evolution shaped cooperation between mother and fetus, the findings may bring new understanding to pregnancy problems — such as preeclampsia — that spring from issues in how maternal and fetal cells interact.

    “Together, these species offer a rare window into pregnancy’s evolutionary history,” said study lead author Daniel Stadtmauer, a post-doc at the University of Vienna who started the research as a student in Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

    The researchers used a technique called “single-cell transcriptomics,” which let them examine the genes that individual cells use and map out all the cell types at the placental border. They found that many mammal species share a type of fetal cell called an “invasive trophoblast,” which has likely helped shape the evolution of the placenta. “We uncovered a genetic signature linked to these placental cells that has persisted for over 100 million years,” Stadtmauer said. “And it’s not unique to humans, as was traditionally thought, but part of an ancient heritage shared even with marsupials.”

    The findings also revealed that a type of uterine cell — called decidual cells — evolved gradually, shifting their role from immune functions to hormone production, and that the molecular communication system between mother and fetus grew more specialized over time to allow for greater cooperation between the two.

    “This cross-species research opens the door to a powerful new framework for understanding how pregnancy evolved, and how cells cooperate to build complex traits,” said senior author Günter Wagner, the Alison Richard Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

    Other researchers include researcher Jamie Maziarz, who is now in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), and collaborators from the University of Vienna and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

    This research was supported by grants from the John Templeton Foundation, the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, the National Science Foundation, and the Austrian Science Fund.

    Yale chemists go ‘retro’ with new AI-based model

    Retrosynthesis, a longstanding challenge in organic chemistry, has a complexity that is similar to a game of chess. You have a target molecule you’re aiming for, a set of basic materials to get there, and must pursue a set of steps to accomplish the task.

    But in retrosynthesis, the possibilities for each step expand exponentially, making it incredibly difficult and time-consuming to reach a target.

    But in a recent study published in the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, Yale’s Victor Batista and members of his lab describe a novel, artificial intelligence-based approach to direct, multistep retrosynthesis. Batista is the John Gamble Kirkwood Professor of Chemistry in the FAS, a member of the Energy Sciences Institute on West Campus and the Yale Quantum Institute, and director of the Center for Quantum Dynamics on Modular Quantum Devices.

    Compared to previous methods, the new approach is three times more likely to suggest a correct route to a target molecule on the first attempt, the researchers say. The research has a public web portal, is open-source, and already has filled more than 800 requests from 100 users.

    “Instead of older methods, we re-framed the problem as a sequence prediction task, allowing us to train a transformer model — the same architecture behind large language models like ChatGPT — to predict entire synthesis routes natively,” said Anton Morgunov, a Ph.D. candidate in the GSAS (and a member of Batista’s lab) and co-lead of the project with Ph.D. candidate Yu Shee.

    Shee, Morgunov, and Batista are authors of the new study, along with Haote Li, who earned a Ph.D. in chemistry at Yale earlier this year.

    The researchers noted that while they have not completely solved the challenge of retrosynthesis — their model struggles with particularly complex chemical structures — their approach shows promise and can be refined further.

    Machine learning and climate change

    A Yale Center for Natural Carbon Capture (YCNCC) research team has received a $50,000 Phase 1 award from the Bezos Earth Fund’s AI for Climate and Nature Grand Challenge.

    The team is led by Elizabeth Yankovsky, assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences in FAS, and YCNCC data scientist Luke Gloege, along with geochemist Noah Planavsky, professor of Earth and planetary sciences in FAS.

    The Yale project leverages machine learning to conduct modeling at different scales to unlock monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) for geochemical carbon dioxide removal. The team is now in an intensive innovative sprint towards the challenge’s Phase II awards, expected later this year. Each Phase II awardee team will receive up to $2 million.

    The challenge is a $100 million competition from the Bezos Earth Fund to advance innovation and opportunities for AI to help solve the critical challenges of nature loss and climate change.

    Hungry for knowledge

    Nearly 4 million college students in the U.S. are known to experience food insecurity, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. But little has been known about the prevalence of food insecurity among medical students.

    A new study from a team of Yale researchers addresses this question, finding that nearly 1 in 4 medical students were food insecure. (“Food insecurity” is a measure of whether individuals have enough food to support a healthy, active life, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).) Published in the journal Academic Medicine, the study was led by YSM students with support from John Solomon Francis, YSM’s associate dean for student affairs and co-author of the study.

    “Food insecurity among medical students is not just a personal hardship — it’s a systemic failure,” said Mytien Nguyen, an M.D.-Ph.D. candidate at YSM and one of the first authors of the study. “No student should be expected to learn, train, and care for others while struggling to meet their basic needs.” 

    Bassel Shanab, an M.D. candidate at YSM and another first author, added: “Food insecurity is often described as a rite of passage, anecdotally, from attendings and residents to medical students, along with excessively long workdays and sleep deprivation, on the pathway to becoming a physician.” 

    The team examined variations in food insecurity among medical students at 15 schools, analyzing differences by disability status, race, ethnicity, and financial background. Between March and October 2024, 1,659 students across those medical schools completed an online survey. The research team then assessed rates of food insecurity using the USDA’s Household Food Security Survey Module. 

    Low-income students, students with disabilities, and those underrepresented in medicine reported food insecurity at a significantly higher rate than their peers. These findings suggest a promising yet underutilized path for supporting these students: proactively linking them to nutrition resources and advocating for policies that address their essential needs.

    Karen Guzman, Jim Shelton, Kevin Dennehy, and Meg Dalton contributed to this report.

    Research Redux:

    The cure for cystic fibrosis might start in the womb

    Simpler, less costly virus testing in high-risk settings

    Yale genome engineers expand the reach and precision of human gene editing

    This ‘jellyfish’ has bunny ears — and swims in a galaxy cluster

    A glimpse into how monkeys — and machines — see a 3D world

    Continue Reading

  • Factors linked to lung cancer in never-smokers

    July 15, 2025

    At a Glance

    • A study linked fine-particle air pollution and other environmental factors to genetic changes in people with lung cancer who never smoked.
    • The study provides new insights into how lung cancer develops in never-smokers and could inform future prevention strategies.

    Tobacco smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, but researchers are working to understand why many nonsmokers also develop it.  

    Nattakorn_Maneerat / Shutterstock

    Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death for both men and women nationwide. It has long been linked to smoking. But studies in recent years have shown that up to 1 in 4 lung cancer cases worldwide arise in people who never smoked. Lung cancer in never-smokers is seen most often in women, people of Asian descent, and people with a family history of lung cancer. But the underlying factors that lead to lung cancer in people who have never smoked are poorly understood.

    A research team led by NIH’s Dr. Maria Teresa Landi and Dr. Ludmil Alexandrov of the University of California, San Diego, set out to examine the genomic factors tied to lung cancer in people who never smoked. The study built on their earlier analysis, which used whole-genome sequencing to identify three subtypes of lung cancer in tumors from 232 never-smokers. Whole-genome analysis involves sequencing nearly all the 3 billion DNA building blocks in a person’s cells.

    The team analyzed the whole genomes of lung tumors from 871 never-smokers who had not yet been treated for their cancer. The patients came from 28 locations across four continents—North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia—with differing exposures to environmental factors. Most were female (79%). The majority (86%) had been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer.

    The scientists sequenced and compared the genomes of tumor and other tissue samples from each person. This let them pinpoint distinct patterns of DNA mutations, called mutational signatures, in the tumors. The researchers combined this genomic data with estimates of each person’s lifetime exposure to air pollution, based on their geographic locations. Results appeared in Nature on July 2, 2025.

    The scientists found that people who’d had high exposure to fine-particle air pollution, which comes from vehicles and industry, were 1.6 times more likely to have mutations in the gene for TP53, a protein that helps suppress tumors.

    High-level exposure to air pollution was also linked to shorter telomeres, the protective DNA caps at the ends of chromosomes that keep the ends of chromosomes from fraying. Shortened telomeres have been linked to cancer, organ failure, and other health risks. Increased exposure to air pollution was also linked to genetic changes that are more commonly associated with tobacco smoking. This included a 3.9-fold increase in a mutational signature called SBS4.

    Earlier observational studies suggested ties between secondhand smoke and lung cancer in never-smokers. But the genomic analysis found that secondhand smoke exposure was linked to only a slight increase in total mutations, with no increase in cancer-driving mutations or mutational signatures. However, it was linked to shorter telomeres.

    “We’re seeing this problematic trend with many lung cancers occurring in never-smokers, but we haven’t understood why,” Alexandrov says. “Our research shows that air pollution is strongly associated with the same types of DNA mutations we typically associate with smoking.”

    “Most previous lung cancer studies have not separated data of smokers from non-smokers, which has limited insights into potential causes in those patients,” Landi adds. “We have designed a study to collect data from never-smokers around the world and use genomics to trace back what exposures might be causing these cancers. This is an urgent and growing global problem that we are working to understand.”

    Related Links

    References

    The mutagenic forces shaping the genomes of lung cancer in never smokers. Díaz-Gay M, Zhang T, Hoang PH, Leduc C, Baine MK, Travis WD, Sholl LM, Joubert P, Khandekar A, Zhao W, Steele CD, Otlu B, Nandi SP, Vangara R, Bergstrom EN, Kazachkova M, Pich O, Swanton C, Hsiung CA, Chang IS, Wong MP, Leung KC, Sang J, McElderry JP, Hartman C, Colón-Matos FJ, Miraftab M, Saha M, Lee OW, Jones KM, Gallego-García P, Yang Y, Zhong X, Edell ES, Santamaría JM, Schabath MB, Yendamuri SS, Manczuk M, Lissowska J, Świątkowska B, Mukeria A, Shangina O, Zaridze D, Holcatova I, Mates D, Milosavljevic S, Kontic M, Bossé Y, Rothberg BEG, Christiani DC, Gaborieau V, Brennan P, Liu G, Hofman P, Yang L, Nowak MA, Shi J, Rothman N, Wedge DC, Homer R, Yang SR, Pesatori AC, Consonni D, Lan Q, Zhu B, Chanock SJ, Choi J, Alexandrov LB, Landi MT. Nature. 2025 Jul 2. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09219-0. Online ahead of print. PMID: 40604281.

    Funding

    NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS); David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Sanford Stem Cell Institute at the University of California San Diego; European Union NextGenerationEU funds.

    Continue Reading

  • Are ‘unreasonable investor expectations’ the cause of poor video game market conditions?

    Are ‘unreasonable investor expectations’ the cause of poor video game market conditions?

    Who is to blame for the brutal video game industry downturn that’s driven mass layoffs, studio closures, and (modest) declining revenue since 2022? According to new data from The Game Developer Collective (a survey program run jointly with our partners at Omdia), developers say investors—specifically investors with mismanaged expectations—are the number one party to blame.

    This month’s Collective surveyed a panel of developers about the economic state of the game industry. When asked what the “main cause” of bad market conditions in the video game business, 64 percent of respondents stated “unreasonable investor expectations” were the number one cause of the downturn.

    60 percent of respondents ranked “mismanagement” as a close second. The next-highest variable was “too-high development costs,” according to 43 percent of survey takers.

    It’s certainly a spicy statistic—but is it a fair sentiment? Some Studio founders and investors (who may be a bit biased here) disagree.

    “I’m not sure that’s fair,” said Midsummer founder and CEO Jake Solomon. “The venture capital model is built upon significant return on the VC investment.”

    “When a VC funds our studio, they don’t have any expectation of sharing in revenue, they don’t set milestones, they don’t dictate day to day operations, and they even pay the entirety of the agreed upon funding upfront, it’s a great deal for developers. But any company funded by VC knows the deal, you are expected to not just make a great game, but a transformational one.” VC investors can only make money through an “exit event” like an acquisition or IPO. “Exit events for game studios are rare,” he noted.

    Related:Santa Ragione says Apple is delisting Wheels of Aurelia ‘without justification’

    Image via Game Developer Collective.

    Griffin Gaming Partner Jason Della Rocca also disagreed, saying it’s really “the complete reverse” “It is the market conditions that are driving investor expectations,” he wrote in a comment to Game Developer. “Developers need to wake up and adapt to the new reality that they can no longer just be in the game making business. They need to embrace being in the fan building business, and understand that studio value and sustainability comes from identifying a specific audience/player base and feeding them great games.”

    AstroBeam founder and CEO Devin Reimer (who also co-founded and was Chief Executive Owl of VR powerhouse Owlchemy Labs) rounded out the dissent, stating that investors have been “propping up some of the game industry given the withdrawal of platform funding and the collapse of game publishers.”

    “People are often looking for a simple villain to pin things on, while reality is not as simple or exciting to talk about,” Reimer said, saying that “the increase in competition, rising development costs, lack of long-term studio funding, and [overestimates] of game growth during Covid” played a greater role.

    Related:‘They tried to choke us from the start:’ Secret 6 Madrid workers slam owner Testronic ahead of impending closure

    Reimer was the only one we spoke with who called out what he referred to as a “mismatch” between investors and the way game studios work. “Successful game studios generally need to launch many games before they get a hit. For example, at my previous studio, Owlchemy Labs, it took 4 original IP games before we had our breakout hit.”

    “Game publishers and platform funding works for this model, because they are focused on individual games. So a studio could get funding for many games without giving up equity in the company and each deal was judged on the odds of success of the title being funded. Meanwhile investors buy a stake in the whole company, and traditionally it is focused around a singular product.”

    Is it easier to find funding in 2025?

    While developers have plenty of reason to find fault with investors, there’s some hope that funding for new games and studios may be thawing out in 2025.

    It’s not a dramatic thaw, to be clear. The number of developers who reported receiving fundraising in the past 12 months is “virtually unchanged,” according to the Collective report, with 30 percent of respondents saying their company received funding.

    Related:The Star Wars Battlefront II player surge exposes the flaws in EA’s business model

    But when asked if it was “harder, easier, or about the same” to get funding this year over the prior year, fewer number of developers reported that it was “harder” than the year before. 50 percent of respondents declared it was more difficult, a 23 percent decrease down from 2024.

    There’s a chance this may just be developers adjusting to the new reality, as the number of developers saying there was “no change” increased from seven percent to 27 percent, a correlating increase. Fewer developers reported that it was “easier” to find funding this year, dropping from 9 percent to 6 percent.

    Della Rocca said this is part of a trend toward what he called “evidence-based investing.” This follows a pattern of investors responding well to developers who can prove “audience validation” early in the process. “The real market failure is that there are very limited sources of funding for prototypes and audience validation,” said the veteran investor.

    “Anecdotally, it does seem like 2025 is better than 2024,” said Reimer when quizzed about the topic. “But that isn’t saying a lot because 2024 was so bad.”

    Solomon warned that an improved investing environment may be true at the seed stage, as it still “makes sense” for investors to chip in at that level in exchange for relatively large amounts of equity. But he argued that 2025 is “the worst year” for Series A funding and beyond. “Valuations probably feel too high, exit events are few, and examples of good investment bets in games are not plentiful. It’s rough sailing out there, and it’s a shame, because many ideas being shopped are extremely low-cost and innovative, which is exactly what our industry needs right now.”

    One way or another, the game industry does need a way out of this mess that isn’t just cashing in on trends and buzzwords. For all the investors out there looking to win over developer sentiment, Reimer might have a solution worth looking into: investing in at least the first two games from a studio.

    “Then you could at least see growth potential and your odds of a hit would go up significantly,” he explained. “The problem is due to current high development costs, that means a very large investment out of the gate at a time where it is harder to get investment at all.”

    Game Developer and Omdia are sibling organizations under Informa.


    Continue Reading

  • Olympic final rematch is the highlight of the week in Gdańsk

    Poland go for the top spot

    One of the two national teams set to play in Gdańsk to start the week inside the qualification zone for the Finals, Poland are in second place in the VNL standings, with six wins and 18 points. The Europeans want not only to secure a spot in the Finals, which are going to be held in Ningbo, Chiba, from July 30-August 3, but also to challenge Brazil (seven wins, 20 points) for the top spot in the standings. Outside hitter Artur Szalpuk is the team’s top scorer in the VNL with 98 points. This week, the Polish will have increased firepower with outside hitters Wilfredo Leon and Tomasz Fornal and middle blocker Jakub Kochanowski joining the team.

    “Playing at home is an amazing feeling for us,” outside hitter Aleksander Śliwka remarked. “Being in the Polish national team and being able to play in front of fans like the ones we have is a big privilege. The fans are always on our side, and they give us wings. We get more confident in our play, and we see our fans as a seventh player on the court for us.”

    Defending champions France, which rank fifth with five wins and 15 points, are also in a good spot to qualify for the Finals. Olympic champion opposite Théo Faure is the team’s top scorer, ranking third overall in the VNL with 137 points – he’s also third in aces with 14. Middle blocker François Huetz (second in blocks with 26), setter Amir Tizi-Oualou (the third-best in the position with 200 actions) and libero Benjamin Diez (sixth in passes with 45) are other important players in the French campaign. Setter Benjamin Toniutti, libero Jenia Grebennikov, opposite Jean Patry and middle blocker Nicolas Le Goff will all be with the team in Gdańsk.

    Continue Reading

  • Tambiciclib Plus Azacitidine and Venetoclax Elicits Robust Antitumor Activity in R/R AML

    Tambiciclib Plus Azacitidine and Venetoclax Elicits Robust Antitumor Activity in R/R AML

    R/R AML | Image credit:

    © Oleksandr – stock.adobe.com

    Tambiciclib (SLS009), a highly selective CDK9 inhibitor, generated responses and prolonged median overall survival (OS) compared with historical standards when combined with azacitidine (Vidaza) and venetoclax (Venclexta) in patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), meeting key end points of a phase 2 trial (NCT04588922).1

    In the single-arm study, among all evaluable patients and across all cohorts and tambiciclib dose levels (n = 54), the overall response rate (ORR) was 33%; among all evaluable patients across all cohorts who received tambiciclib at the optimal dose of 30 mg twice weekly, the ORR was 40%. Patients with relapsed/refractory AML with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML MR) who received tambiciclib at the optimal dose achieved an ORR of 44%. Those with AML MR with myelomonocytic/myelomonoblastic (M4/M5) subtype (n = 12) achieved an ORR of 50%, as did those with ASXL1 mutations who received the investigational agent at the optimal dose (n = 18). All ORRs exceeded the trial’s target ORR of at least 20%.

    “These [tambiciclib] results represent an important advancement for patients with relapsed/refractory AML, where treatment options remain limited and outcomes are often poor,” Yair Levy, MD, director of Hematologic Malignancies Research at Texas Oncology Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, stated in a news release. “The response rates and survival outcomes are particularly compelling, especially given the consistency of responses across high-risk molecular subtypes and the favorable safety profile. What’s especially encouraging is the opportunity to now explore this therapy in the first-line setting, where outcomes are often dictated by how patients respond to initial treatment. The FDA’s recognition of this unmet need and its support for a trial in newly diagnosed patients reflects [tambiciclib]’s potential to address a critical gap in AML care.”

    The median OS was 8.9 months in patients with AML MR and 8.8 months in those who were relapsed or refractory to venetoclax-based regimens. Furthermore, the median OS was 4.1 months among patients who had received a median of 2 prior lines of therapy. These OS durations exceeded the historical benchmark median OS with best available therapy of 2.4 months for patients who had received 1 prior line of therapy and 1.8 months for those who had received more than 1 prior line of therapy. These median OS durations also exceeded the trial’s target median OS of at least 3 months.

    “We are excited to report that our phase 2 trial met all key end points, with clinical responses and survival outcomes that exceed targeted expectations and historical benchmarks,” Angelos Stergiou, MD, ScD hc, president and chief executive officer of SELLAS, stated in the news release. “AML remains an area of urgent unmet medical need, particularly for patients with relapsed or refractory disease, where standard treatments are often ineffective and poorly tolerated. What sets [tambiciclib] apart is its consistent efficacy across a broad range of molecular subtypes. The treatment was also well tolerated, with no dose-limiting toxicities [DLTs] across any treatment arm, validating both the biological selectivity and safety profile of our approach.”

    Based on these data, the FDA has recommended the initiation of a randomized clinical trial investigating tambiciclib in the first-line setting in patients with newly diagnosed AML who are eligible for treatment with venetoclax plus azacitidine. The findings from this trial may support a new drug application seeking the approval of the agent in this population. Preparation for this trial has started, and enrollment is expected to begin by the first quarter of 2026, according to a news release from SELLAS. The trial plans to enroll 80 patients across 2 groups: those with newly diagnosed disease who are not likely to benefit from standard venetoclax plus azacitidine therapy based on molecular profiling, and those who initiate treatment with venetoclax plus azacitidine but have a confirmed lack of response after 2 treatment cycles.

    “We believe earlier intervention with [tambiciclib] may offer greater clinical benefit before patients’ bone marrow reserve is depleted by disease or prior therapies, and before the disease evolves into more resistant and aggressive forms,” Dragan Cicic, MD, chief development officer of SELLAS, added in the news release. “Data from other recent clinical trials suggest meaningful differences in response rates between newly diagnosed and relapsed/refractory patients, reinforcing the importance of this strategic approach. In addition, our ongoing collaboration with one of the nation’s most prestigious cancer centers continues to generate insights in genomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics, which will refine patient selection and our precision medicine strategy and help us unlock the full potential of [tambiciclib] as we prepare to enter pivotal development.”

    The open-label, multicenter phase 2 trial was designed to investigate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of tambiciclib at 45 mg or 60 mg in combination with venetoclax and azacitidine. In the 60 mg cohort, patients received tambiciclib at either 1 60-mg dose once weekly or a 30-mg dose twice weekly. The trial was expanded to enroll patients with ASXL1-mutated AML, as well as those with myelodysplasia-related cytogenetic abnormalities beyond ASXL1 mutations.

    End points of the study included the incidence of DLTs, the incidence of adverse effects, pharmacokinetics, ORR, duration of response, progression-free survival, and OS.2

    The 5-cohort trial enrolled and treated 54 patients with relapsed/refractory AML who had previously progressed on venetoclax-based therapies.1 In total, 47 patients had AML MR, 23 patients had ASXL1-mutated disease; among those with AML MR, 17 had M4/M5 AML subtype. All patients had adverse-risk cytogenetics, excluding 1 patient with intermediate-risk cytogenetics. Patients had a median age of 69 years and had received a median of 2 prior lines of therapy.

    Regarding safety, the addition of tambiciclib to venetoclax and azacitidine was not associated with increased toxicities compared with venetoclax plus azacitidine alone.

    “We believe these data strongly support the potential of [tambiciclib] to meaningfully extend life in patients with otherwise limited options, and we look forward to sharing these findings in more detail in the future,” Stergiou concluded in the news release.

    References

    1. SELLAS meets all primary endpoints in phase 2 trial of SLS009 in r/r AML and receives FDA guidance to advance into first-line therapy study. News release. SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc. July 15, 2025. Accessed July 15, 2025.
    2. Study of SLS009 (Formerly GFH009) a potent highly selective CDK9 inhibitor in patients with hematologic malignancies. ClinicalTrials.gov. Updated September 19, 2024. Accessed July 15, 2025. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04588922

    Continue Reading

  • CANELO ÁLVAREZ TO FACE TERENCE CRAWFORD FOR UNIFIED SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP IN RIYADH SEASON SHOWDOWN AT ALLEGIANT STADIUM IN LAS VEGAS ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

    CANELO ÁLVAREZ TO FACE TERENCE CRAWFORD FOR UNIFIED SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP IN RIYADH SEASON SHOWDOWN AT ALLEGIANT STADIUM IN LAS VEGAS ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

    Saul “Canelo” Álvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) looks to add Crawford to his legendary resume. Capturing a multitude of titles across multiple weight divisions, and defeating the likes of Shane Mosley, Gennady Golovkin, and Miguel Cotto, Álvarez has done more than enough to solidify himself as one of the best to ever do it. The proud native of Guadalajara, Mexico now turns his attention to the undefeated challenger, Terence Crawford, to cement his legacy even further. 

    Omaha, Nebraska’s Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) sets out to show why he believes he’s the #1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world with a defining win against Álvarez. The current WBA and interim WBO junior middleweight champion, Crawford has become a household name by defeating Ricky Burns, Jose Benavidez Jr., Amir Khan, Shawn Porter, and Errol Spence Jr. After successfully moving up in weight to 154 pounds against Israil Madrimov, Crawford now sets his sights on Canelo to secure the biggest win of his career. 

    About Riyadh Season
    Saudi Arabia’s capital embraces one of the world’s biggest entertainment events every year during winter. Since the launch of Riyadh Season in 2019, the festival has welcomed visitors from all over the world to experience thousands of concerts, sporting activities, and other unique cultural events. Most recently, Riyadh Season 2024 reached a major milestone after the number of visitors for the year exceeded 20 million for the first time.

    September’s Las Vegas fight night follows on from a host of memorable boxing showdowns from Riyadh Season including the first undisputed heavyweight title fight of the 21st Century between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk, two undisputed light heavyweight title clashes involving Artur Beterbiev and Dimitry Bivol, Canelo Alvarez making his Riyadh debut to reclaim the undisputed super-middleweight championship crown against William Scull, Terence Crawford becoming a four-division champion by defeating Israil Madrimov in Los Angeles and Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois in front of a record crowd at London’s Wembley Stadium.


    Continue Reading

  • Google’s next Pixel Fold might be completely dust-proof

    Google’s next Pixel Fold might be completely dust-proof

    Google’s upcoming Pixel 10 Pro Fold could be the first dust-proof foldable. A new leak published by Android Headlines says the Pixel 10 Pro Fold may come with an IP68 rating, which would make it completely dust-tight and allow it to withstand continuous submersion in water.

    To compare, Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Motorola Razer Ultra have an IP48 rating, which means the phones offer similar protection against submersion in water, but aren’t completely dust-proof. Instead, they’re only capable of sealing out objects 1mm and larger.

    Additionally, Android Headlines reports that the Pixel 10 Pro Fold could have a smaller gap between the cover display and the hinge, resulting in a slightly larger 6.4-inch outer screen when compared to 6.3 inches on last year’s model. The cover screen could also come with an upgraded 3,000 nits of peak brightness.

    Along with Google’s 3nm Tensor G5 processor and 16GB of RAM, Android Headlines says the Pixel 10 Pro Fold might have a new 1TB storage option, in addition to the 256GB and 512GB variants. Google is also rumored to include a 7 percent larger battery in its new foldable when compared to the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but other than that, it seems like things may largely stay the same.

    A previous leak from Android Headlines revealed that the new foldable could have the same 8-inch inner display size as its predecessor, and may still be thicker than the ultra-slim Galaxy Z Fold 7. This latest Android Headlines report also includes details about the Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s camera setup, which is rumored to stay the same, featuring a 48-megapixel primary camera, a 10.5MP ultrawide lens, a 10.8MP telephoto camera, and two 10MP selfie cameras.

    Google hasn’t yet announced an official date for its next Pixel event, but rumors suggest it could take the wraps off its full Pixel 10 lineup on August 20th, 2025.

    Continue Reading

  • US inflation rises as tariffs drive up prices

    US inflation rises as tariffs drive up prices

    US inflation jumped last month as President Donald Trump’s tariffs took hold, pushing up prices for items from clothing to coffee.

    Consumer prices rose 2.7% in the year to June, up from 2.4% the previous month, with prices rising at the fastest pace since February, the Labor Department said.

    Higher energy and housing costs, such as rents, were the major drivers of the increase.

    But the data also suggested that consumers are starting to feel the impact of tariffs, as some firms begin to pass along the costs of Trump’s new taxes on imports.

    Coffee prices jumped 2.2% from May to June, while prices for citrus fruits climbed 2.3%. Toy prices rose 1.8%, appliance prices increased 1.9%, while clothing prices gained 0.4% – the first increase to hit the sector in months.

    But the overall increase remained contained and came in largely within expectations, offset by declines in prices for new and used cars, airfare and hotel bookings.

    “There is a trickle of what is likely tariff-induced inflation in some categories, particularly household appliances and furnishings,” said Olu Sonola, head of US economic research at Fitch Ratings.

    “This trickle is likely to gain momentum in the coming months.”

    The average effective tariff rate in the US has surged this year, as Trump imposed a 10% tax on most goods entering the country, hitting key items, such as steel and cars with even higher levies.

    Though he suspended some more aggressive plans, in recent weeks, he has revived tariff threats, warning of plans to raise duties on goods from most countries from 1 August. Ongoing talks have raised hopes that deals will avert punishing duties.

    Trump said on Tuesday he had struck a “great deal” with Indonesia, without offering details. So far, his tariff talks with other countries have concluded with tariff levels for goods from those countries far higher than the US had at the start of the year.

    The president says the taxes will protect American businesses from foreign competition, boost domestic manufacturing and jobs, and bring in revenue for the government.

    The White House has dismissed forecasts that the measures will lead to higher prices for Americans, arguing that companies and foreign exporters will absorb the costs.

    That view is at odds with most economic forecasters, who have argued the US economy has been shielded so far because firms stocked up on many goods in advance.

    Despite pressure from Trump to cut interest rates, the US central bank has resisted making any changes, saying it wants more time to understand the effect of the tariffs.

    Analysts on Tuesday said they were not expecting any cuts at the Fed’s meeting this month and were divided about September, given the new inflation figures.

    Continue Reading

  • Study Highlights Complex Role of IL-13 Among Patients with Bullous Pemphigoid

    Study Highlights Complex Role of IL-13 Among Patients with Bullous Pemphigoid

    New findings suggest that while serum interleukin (IL)-13 levels are lower in patients with bullous pemphigoid compared to healthy controls, suggesting IL-13 maintains a complex role in disease pathogenesis, IL-13 levels do not correlate with bullous pemphigoid severity or prognosis.1

    Marwan Dawood, MD, from the Department of Dermatology at Rambam Health Care Campus in Israel, led a team of investigators who authored this analysis. Dawood et al highlighted that bullous pemphigoid is the most commonly seen autoimmune blistering disease, with prevalence that has reportedly risen in recent years.2

    “Our study aimed to compare IL-13 levels between DPP4-induced [bullous pemphigoid] and non-triggered [bullous pemphigoid], as well as to compare these levels with those of healthy controls and pemphigus patients,” Dawood and colleagues wrote.1

    Trial Design and Notable Findings

    The investigative team’s retrospective cohort study involved an assessment of adult patients diagnosed with bullous pemphigoid between 2008 – 2023, specifically among those given a diagnosis at the dermatology department of Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel. Through a clinical evaluation alongside positive findings from direct immunofluorescence (DIF), specifically IgG deposition along the basement membrane, these diagnoses were confirmed. Those deemed as eligible participants were adults ≥18 years who also had a confirmed diagnosis shown to be supported by clinical, histopathological, and immunological evidence.

    There were 12 healthy individuals and 4 patients with pemphigus vulgaris in the control arm of the analysis. Healthy controls were matched to subjects with bullous pemphigoid by sex and by age to diminish the possibility of demographic bias. Notably, the investigators found that none of those in the control arm had a personal history of autoimmune or inflammatory conditions.

    Serum samples, after being obtained from all study participants at the time of diagnosis, frozen prior to the initiation of any BP-specific treatment at −80°C until additional analyses were required. IL-13 levels were quantified by Dawood and colleagues via a commercially available IL-13 ELISA kit, with measurements being done at a single time point rather than throughout treatment.

    The primary aim of Dewad and coauthors’ assessment was to evaluate serum IL-13 concentrations and their relationship with etiology of bullous pemphigoid, with peripheral eosinophil counts, with the requirements for adjunctive treatment, and with mucosal involvement. Using electronic medical records, they collected clinical and laboratory data such as demographic characteristics, disease origin, treatment information, and results of patients’ blood tests.

    Overall, the investigators concluded that mean serum IL-13 levels were significantly lower among those with bullous pemphigoid (n=42; mean 62.46 pg/mL ± 16.53) compared to healthy controls (n=12; mean 87.83 pg/mL ± 8.87, P < .0001) and compared to those with pemphigus vulgaris (n=4; mean 87.6 pg/mL ± 5.16, P = .013).1 Within the bullous pemphigoid subgroup, it was noted that subjects with idiopathic bullous pemphigoid showed higher IL-13 levels versus those with DPP4-inhibitor–associated bullous pemphigoid (67.01 pg/mL ± 14.3 vs. 57.36 pg/mL ± 21, P = .0104).

    The team did not observe any statistically significant associations between IL-13 levels and eosinophil counts (Pearson’s r = .18, P = .253), mucosal involvement (P = .338), utilization of adjuvant therapy (P = .32), or patients’ disease prognosis (P = .45). However, they did find a significant link between elevated eosinophil counts and the need for adjuvant treatment (P = .027).

    “This study highlights the significant variability in serum IL-13 levels among [bullous pemphigoid] patients, distinguishing idiopathic and DPP4i-induced [bullous pemphigoid],” the team concluded.1 “…With the emergence of anti-IL13 biologics, our findings emphasize the need for further research into IL-13’s role in [bullous pemphigoid] pathogenesis and treatment, towards the development of future personalized approaches in [bullous pemphigoid] management.”

    References

    1. RL Colbert, DM Allen, D Eastwood, et al. “Mortality Rate of Bullous Pemphigoid in a US Medical Center,” Journal of Investigative Dermatology 122, no. 5 (2004): 1091–1095, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-202X.2004.22504.x.
    2. Dawood M, Saleh ZA, Boyango I, et al. The Complex Role of IL-13 in Bullous Pemphigoid: New Insights From a Retrospective Cohort Study. JEADV Clinical Practice. https://doi.org/10.1002/jvc2.70018.

    Continue Reading

  • Pakistan: 6 killed, dozens injured as heavy monsoon rains lash Punjab, low-lying areas submerged – ANI News

    1. Pakistan: 6 killed, dozens injured as heavy monsoon rains lash Punjab, low-lying areas submerged  ANI News
    2. Flash flood alert issued for parts of Punjab, Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan  Ptv.com.pk
    3. At least 6 die as heavy rains continue to wreak havoc across KP  Dawn
    4. Over 110 dead since late June as monsoon rains wreak havoc in Pakistan  The Express Tribune
    5. Floods in Koh-e-Sulaiman: CM directs administration to remain alert  Business Recorder

    Continue Reading